Business Model Innovation Delivers Fresher, Cheaper Food

Scaling the Local Food Movement and Cutting Waste with Zaycon Foods

There is no doubt that people are becoming more interested in where their food came from and with meat prices rising (especially here in the United States with widespread drought in some areas) people are also becoming more concerned with the cost.

Like a blast from the past, when neighbors used to get together and buy a side of beef together and have a butcher carve it up so they could stash it in their respective freezers, Zaycon Foods has come along with a business model innovation and introduced a Farm->Truck->You food distribution system for some types of meat and produce, bypassing several layers of warehousing, truck shipment, and unnecessary waiting time.

Here is a video describing their business model innovation for a spin using chicken as an example:

But it is not just chicken that they offer at their buying events. They also offer 93/7 lean ground beef, premium bacon, ribs, hot dogs, ham, and even seasonal produce straight to the trunk of your car. The benefits of the business model innovation are numerous:

1. Lower prices
2. Fresher food (no waiting steps in the process)
3. No food waste (which is part of the reason retailer’s charge more)

Now operating in 48 states to 1,000+ locations here in the United Sates and a growing favorite of churches, and other group purchasers, neighbors are now banding together and doing a scaled down version of sharing a side of beef (or, um, chicken).

What do you think? Is this an innovation or not?

P.S. They did win the first annual Post Harvest Waste Innovation Award from The Post Harvest Project (TPHP), a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 through the support of The Clinton Global Initiative.

Source: The Seattle Times

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Braden Kelley is a popular innovation speaker, embeds innovation across the organization with innovation training, and builds B2B content marketing strategies that drive increased revenue, visibility and inbound sales leads. A healthcare and technology industry professional, he is the author of Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire from John Wiley & Sons. He tweets from @innovate.